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I recently came across a funny picture with these questions:

Do you want som drugs?

No

Do you not want some drugs?

Presumably the answear is supposed to be "no" since you always say no to drugs, but does not both these questions result in him saying no to drugs?

http://buttersafe.com/comics/2013-11-07-Drugs.jpg

Turak
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  • The second question directly appeals to the kid's temptation to drugs, which is an easier way to get him into doing drugs, rather than simply asking- "Do you want some drugs"? Notice the kid's reaction after the second question. – Dust_In_The_Wind Aug 29 '14 at 23:20
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    I think you’ve figured it out, Turak. Some people believe that “Do you …?” and “Don’t you …?” mean exactly the same thing. Others believe that they have opposite meanings, so the “right” answer to “Do you not want some drugs?” is “Yes, I do not want some drugs.” – and therein lies the joke. Search this site for “negative question” and you’ll find over 100 results, such as How to answer a negative question without ambiguity? – Scott - Слава Україні Aug 30 '14 at 00:30
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    A related joke: as a teen-aged girl leaves for a date, her father tells her, “If this boy tries anything intimate, just say ‘No’.” When they are alone together, the boy puts his hand on the girl’s thigh and asks, “Do you want me to take my hand off your leg?” – Scott - Слава Україні Aug 30 '14 at 00:30
  • There's an old song which contains the words, "Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today." I assume the question may have been, "Have you no bananas today?" or "So, you don't have any bananas today?" The answer, then, would be "Yes, we have no bananas." – rhetorician Sep 01 '14 at 17:16

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The first is a direct question, where the questioner doesn't know what answer to expect. The second is rhetorical -- i.e. it is the statement "I know you want some drugs" disguised as a question.

Addition

It just occurred to me that when spoken, the meaning of both can depend on emphasis. For example, these:

"Do you want some drugs?"

and

"Do you not want some drugs?"

are both genuine questions (i.e. not rhetorical) and could both mean that the person being asked had initially led the questioner to think that they wanted drugs, but had then given the opposite impression, leaving the questioner confused. And in fact, the second form in the cartoon shows the same effect with the emphasis as follows (although the cartoon's joke does not rely on this particular emphasis effect):

"Do you not want some drugs?"

The effect is easier to see if you speak any of the above alound, imagine yourself as the confused questioner, and add the words "So" to the start and "then" to the end of each.

tkp
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